Everton FC News: UNITED STATES forward Landon Donovan has told England his side have nothing to fear ahead of Saturday’s World Cup clash in Rustenburg.

Donovan believes his successful spell on loan to Everton from the Los Angeles Galaxy last season has given him confidence for the meeting with Fabio Capello’s side.

But he concedes the USA could play to their maximum potential and still be beaten because of the quality in the England squad.

Donovan, the USA’s all-time leading scorer with 42 goals, said: “I had a great spell with Everton and that gives me confidence going into the England game.

“I played against a lot of their players, and so have a lot of our guys, so we have a respect for their team.

“But we certainly don’t fear them. We feel they are a team we can compete with. We are always confident.

“But we are playing one of the best teams in the world so we could play very well, play at our very best, and still not beat England.

“We are going to focus on what we can do, play as well as we can.”

Donovan believes England will overcome the loss of skipper and key central defender Rio Ferdinand from the tournament because of his knee problem.

He said: “Anytime you lose your captain and a player of Rio’s calibre, it is going to hurt.

“But the beauty in the English squad is that they have a lot of players who can step in easily so it is still going to be a difficult game for us.”

Donovan is also adamant his verbal spat last summer with David Beckham is in the past and believes his Galaxy team-mate can have a positive impact on England.

When asked if there are no longer hard feelings between himself and Beckham, Donovan simply said: “That is the case.”

But when asked if Beckham could aid England during the next month, he said: “Of course, he is arguably their most experienced player. He has played in some of the biggest games so he is going to help them a lot.”